Monday, April 7, 2014
I am happy to report that Henry did wonderful this weekend! I worked from home on Friday and Henry got some much needed rest. He didn't sleep quite as well as he normally does on the first night home from surgery. I think the biggest problem was getting used to the cone. But, by Friday afternoon, he was doing a lot better managing the satellite dish around his neck and was able to get a bit more comfortable.
In true Henry style, he also coaxed me into spending some time outside with him on Friday. His thinking was that sunshine is the best medicine. I don't know about that, but I was happy to see him wanting to do the things that he enjoys.
On Saturday morning, we noticed that a lot of the swelling in his eye had subsided. By Sunday, some of the redness was also fading. Overall, I think he is healing very well. He has taken it all in stride.
Benjamin and Luna are also taking it very well. Ever since Henry came home last Thursday, he has been a one man wrecking crew with his cone. He has been bumping the cone into Benny and Luna all weekend. They have been very patient with Henry even though there have been times he has almost bowled them over with his cone of shame.
Friday, April 4, 2014
I am so happy to report that Henry is home and is doing very well. He was super happy to see us yesterday. Once he said hello, he marched right out of the vet's office and was scanning the parking lot wondering where we parked because he was ready to get home.
Once we got home, he made no bones about wanting to eat. We gave him a bit of food and he was ready for more. I thought it was a really good sign that his appetite was already back.
I think the hardest thing for him to manage has been the cone. His cone is catching on everything and when that happens he's not sure if it because of something he can't see or if it is because he has a satellite dish on his head. I'm sure in a day or two he will be doing much better getting around with the cone of shame. For now we are super glad he is home and doing so well.
Thank you for all your warm thoughts and kind wishes. It meant so much and was such a tremendous help in getting through these last few days. Have a great weekend!
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Today Henry turns 12 years old!
To celebrate Henry's birthday here are some of my favorite pictures of Hank - one from each year he has been with us. If you can't get enough of handsome Henry, check out more pictures of him on Flickr.
June 2002: Ironically enough, it took Henry a few months to grow into his eyes as a pup. He had such a dark mask and the most velvet ears I had ever felt. To this day, his ears are silky smooth.
July 2003: Henry has always been a water lover. He has never been an excellent swimmer, but that has certainly never diminished his love for the water. Whether it be a pool, the ocean a lake or just a really big puddle, if Henry can splash around in it and fetch something out of it Henry is having fun.
November 2004: The beaten path is never where Henry wants to be. Henry was always running off and exploring. The less worn the path, the more he wanted to go that way. I guess you could say that he has always been one to blaze his own trail. After all, that is how he did find that peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
January 2005: Henry has always been a big chewer, however he is the only one of the pugs that actually chews the Kong. When we give the pugs a kong, we usually fill it with peanut butter. Benjamin, Henry and Luna lick and lick until they get all the peanut butter out of the inside of the Kong. At that point, Benjamin and Luna give up. But that is when Henry is just getting started. He collects everyones kongs to make sure no one left any peanut butter behind and then he goes to town chewing on the kong like he is going to be able to crack it open and get every last drop of peanut butter.
June 2006: You can't talk about Henry and his favorite things and not talk about lounging in the sun. You can be assured that Henry gets the recommended dose of Vitamin D every day.
July 2007: Being a pug, Henry of course loves food. One of his favorites has always been noodles. Since we frequently call him Hanky Doodle, when he has noodles, we like to call them Doodle's noodles. Overall, Henry likes surprisingly healthy foods. He loves most vegetables, including the gross ones like brussel sprouts 
July 2008: Henry has always been the official ear cleaner and takes the ear health of both Luna and Benjamin very seriously. It has worked great for Luna and Benjamin. Whenever they are at the vet they always get a great report on their ears. Unfortunately for Henry, neither Luna nor Benjamin return the favor to help keep Henry's ears clean.
February 2009: Henry has always been the co-pilot. He loves car rides and his preferred way of travel is with his head out the window. The faster the car is going the more fun he is having.
April 2010: Curious would be a good word to describe Henry. He is super smart and is very laid back, so when he encounters something new you almost see the wheels turning his head trying to process the situation. This makes him a lot of fun because he is game to try anything!
October 2011: Don't get me wrong, Henry likes his creature comforts, but he loves the great outdoors. No matter what the season he loves to be outside and exploring. He's never been camping, mainly because his humans enjoy the finer things in life, but we have always surmised that he would love it!
March 2012: While Benjamin has always been an early riser, Henry is perfectly content to turn breakfast into brunch and catch a few extra winks of sleep in the morning. Not only is he a man after my own heart with sleeping in, he also makes the best hug up buddy.
April 2013: Because of his calm demeanor, Henry sometimes gets to go on little trips by himself. A yearly tradition for him is to go to the Bark at the Park event for our local minor league baseball team. Henry loves the yearly outing because he has made friends with a few of the concession workers. So, as soon as he gets to the park, he finds his friends and scores plenty of ballpark snacks.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Recently, our steadfast and always strong Henry has been having ear and eye troubles. His ears have rebounded (infection-wise, not hearing-wise), but his eye woes have not only not cleared up - they have gotten worse.
At the follow up appointment on Thursday of last week, we weighed all of the options about what to do about his eye. His vision in his left eye is lost. Due to the size of the cataract in his eye, there is no hope of vision coming back if we are able to get the glaucoma under control. And despite our best efforts, we have not been able to come close to managing the glaucoma. He has not responded to the stringent course of treatment that was recommended. So, the best thing to do for Henry is to remove the painful, angry eye and allow the true healing to begin.
This whole scenario took us by storm. Henry has always been the "healthy" one. He's barely been on oral medications. Rarely eye drops. Always been able to walk far distances. Trachea still a perfect circle. Could see. Could hear. Well, in the last 10 days he basically went deaf and blind in one eye and now we have to have is eye removed.
One of the harder pills to digest is that the surgery is tomorrow. And tomorrow is Henry's birthday! The guilt I feel for scheduling Henry's eye removal surgery on his birthday is enormous. I almost put the surgery off for another week, but Henry is in a lot of pain from the glaucoma. The eye vet describes it as having a constant migraine in his eye. And it just breaks my heart to see him push he eye into the furniture or to paw at it to help alleviate some of the pressure. So, I took the first available surgery day, which happens to be his birthday, in hopes of bringing him some much needed relief.
We will keep you posted. And don't worry. We are worried enough for everyone. May good health and happiness be with you all. Squeeze your babies today! We will stay as positive as we can. Thanks for all your love & support.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Looking forward to your captions in the comments.
Monday, March 31, 2014
In addition to dog beds, it seems we have started to amass a collection of furry little white rugs. Our total is now up to 3, but given the fact that only Benny likes these little rugs, the number may be a little excessive.
We bought the first furry little white rug years ago. When we brought it home Benjamin instantly fell in love with it. It became his favorite place to chew (and lick his feet). We put it in the small hallway leading from the pugs' crates to help save the carpet. It became one of Benny's favorite places to lounge. But, after a little bit, we noticed that Luna, Henry and Cupid, would walk around the rug every time. They hated the feel of the rug so much that they would carefully balance on the little sliver of carpet between the wall and the rug until they had successfully passed the rug. Meanwhile, Benny could not get enough of the rug and would roll all over the rug.
Since the rug is white and Benny's favorite activities to do on the rug include chewing and rolling on it, it became dirty very quickly. We bought another similar style rug, to replace it, but we didn't have the heart to throw away Benjamin's favorite rug. Instead, we just found another place in the house for a second rug with plenty of room for Luna, Henry and Cupid to walk around it.
And just the other day, we found another little white rug that Benny loves. So our collection is now up to 3! If this number gets anywhere close to our dog bed number we are going to be in trouble.
Friday, March 28, 2014
This picture was taken in December 2008.
Luna took a bit of offense to the Pillow Queen post earlier this week. She wanted me to set the record straight and let Cupid and everyone else know that the real Pillow Queen was crowned long before Cupid became a sofa hog.
